Money from the Christian Reformed Church’s 2008 Sea to Sea bike tour has helped build a playground at a shelter for women and children in Orange City, Iowa.
The Bridge received a $7,500 grant from the Sea to Sea funds to enclose the playground with chain-link fencing, lay down safety surfacing, and add a swing set, a fort, picnic tables, a play house, a sandbox, and big wooden chairs.
Fundraisers, gifts, and volunteer labor made up the rest of the project’s $20,000 cost. “I think we did well with it, actually,” said director Sandi Altena, member of Covenant Christian Reformed Church in Sioux Center, Iowa.
The Bridge serves up to six women and their children for up to two years. The women and children are homeless or escaping domestic violence. Counseling in the areas of finances, employment, parenting, healthy relationships, and spiritual formation are part of the program.
The Bridge opened in 2007 and now serves a five-county area.
